


The Best Part of a Storm

by sweetenoughandfaraway (ihavelovedyoubeautifully)



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Fluff, M/M, One-Shot, Thunderstorms, so sweet it might be sickening
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-01-03
Updated: 2013-01-03
Packaged: 2017-11-23 12:05:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 832
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/621943
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ihavelovedyoubeautifully/pseuds/sweetenoughandfaraway
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Liam hates thunderstorms and can’t sleep; Zayn loves them and shows him why.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Best Part of a Storm

It was the first stormy night in weeks, and Liam was wide awake and miserable.

Liam hated storms. He’d always been a light sleeper, and the flashes of lightning and booms of thunder might be relaxing to some people, but all they did was startle him awake the few moments he managed to fall into some sort of restless slumber.

Groaning as the rain started pelting his window even more incessantly, he reached out to grab his phone. After scrolling through Twitter for a while, he decided to send out a mass text to see if anyone was awake.

_Hey lads – can’t sleep. Anyone still up?_

It was nearly three in the morning, and they had an interview at nine, so he wasn’t expecting any replies. However, his phone buzzed about thirty seconds later, and a familiar name was lighting up the screen.

_1 new message from: Zayn_

_Yea. Want me 2 come over :)_

Liam grinned and shook his head. Zayn used smiley faces so much more than one would ever expect from looking at him.

Just as Liam was typing out his reply, he heard a soft knock on his door. Stifling a yawn, he rolled out of bed and opened the door to find a sleepy-eyed Zayn with a dopey grin on his face.

“Someone call for a sleep doctor?” he asked, holding up a teddy bear. _A teddy bear._

Liam shook his head. “Y’know, you’ll never cease to amaze me with how fast you always get here,” he said, gesturing Zayn inside and closing the door. 

As he was turning to head back to his bed, a loud clap of thunder sounded outside and Liam jumped, nearly knocking Zayn over.

“Whoa there, mate. You alright?” Zayn asked, steadying Liam with a strong hand. Liam bit his lip, embarrassed at his less than graceful reaction.

“’m fine. Hate storms, is all.”

Zayn nodded understandingly. “Well, I love ‘em. I’ll teach you.” He pulled back the covers and let Liam slide in, and then set to tucking him in with the teddy bear he’d brought. Liam smiled fondly at him as he quietly instructed the teddy bear to keep quiet because they had an early day. Zayn might look like the tough guy of the group, but underneath it all he was a big softie and they all knew it.

After Liam was satisfactorily tucked in and the teddy bear properly briefed, Zayn crawled into bed beside him.

“Alright, I want you to close your eyes,” he instructed. Liam did as he was told, grimacing slightly as another round of thunder rumbled outside. “Now,” Zayn continued, “Focus on the sound the rain is making on the roof. Don’t focus on anything else. Don’t think about anything else. Just listen to the rhythm until you can _feel_ it.”

Liam emptied his mind of all thought and strained to find the beat of the rain, which had quieted slightly. Eventually he found it and held onto it, letting it fill him up. _Dripdripdripdrip._ He felt his muscles slowly loosening and relaxing until he felt so at ease he was convinced he would sink straight through the bed. The relaxation hung over him like a blanket, and he didn’t even finch when a flash of white from a lightning strike outside illuminated his eyelids.

“Now,” Zayn’s voice was soft in his ear, not wanting to interrupt his trance, “I want you to think about what it would be like to be standing outside right now. Think about how cold you’d be, how your clothes would be soaked through, how the wind would make your skin sting.”

Liam automatically shivered at the thought, and then gasped in surprise as he was suddenly enveloped by warmth on all sides; Zayn had wound his arms around his chest and pulled him into a tight embrace. 

“Now focus on how warm you are. The best part of a storm is knowing that you’re inside, safe and cozy,” Zayn whispered in his ear. Liam exhaled a breath he hadn’t known he was holding and snuggled himself closer into Zayn’s torso. Zayn was so warm that it was like cuddling with a furnace on the perfect heat setting, and Liam couldn’t be more comfortable.

The loudest clap of thunder yet boomed outside and the wind was howling, but it didn’t even faze Liam. Zayn’s thumb was tracing lazy circles on his abdomen and the sensation was so relaxing that he could feel himself actually beginning to slip under.

But before he did, he reached out for Zayn’s other hand and entwined their fingers, holding them momentarily.

“Thank you,” Liam breathed, his fingers gradually loosening their grip as he began to nod off.

He felt Zayn kiss the top of his head before his lips were on his ear, whispering “My pleasure, Li.”

Liam hadn’t thought it was possible to feel any warmer, but the fiery feeling spreading through his chest proved that Zayn was pretty good at proving him wrong.


End file.
